A Time Forgotten
by 1234BlueLagoon
Summary: Continuation of the Time series. Karr has been successfully working with FLAG while his driver is in college. One day he stops checking in on his driver, and FLAG refuses to explain why. When his driver finds him alone near the college, something is wrong. Karr has forgotten everything. Just what is going on here?
1. Disappearing Act

**A/N: This is a new story for an old series (following "Time Flies" and "The Passage of Time"). I realize you readers might not want to read this because of the established OC's, and that's perfectly fine. In all honesty I only wrote it because I wanted to write something. Still, if anyone happens to read this and enjoy it and/or has constructive criticism, I would love to hear it!**

CHAPTER ONE

Nothing. There was nothing.

But that was wrong, and he knew it was wrong. There should be _something._

He explored a little and found something. He wasn't entirely sure what it was, or what he did. But instead of becoming clearer, things became much more confusing. There were other things out there with him. What were they? Would they hurt him?

It seemed as if they wouldn't. They were too busy going down the same pathway, and none of them appeared to even notice him. He waited there for a while-but he wasn't sure what it was he was waiting for. He waited for a long time, watching them.

Finally he decided that he needed to act. He needed to follow these things and find out where they were going. If they didn't notice him now, maybe they wouldn't mind if he joined their line. But he had to be very careful. Some of them were really giant, and he was sure they could hurt him if they wanted to. He had to be careful not to get in their way.

He stretched, and slowly moved forward. The ground dipped away in front of him as he reached the grey pathway, but then it leveled out again.

He hadn't noticed when he stopped. He shivered-he was at the edge of the pathway. None of the things had noticed him there, close as he was. They all just moved past him, very quickly. He would need to match their speed to keep up his place in the line.

As soon as a space opened up for him, he took it. The things shouted at him as he jumped in front of them, and he was afraid that they would knock him over. But they didn't. He sped up, and realized that as long as he kept up the pace of the line the things weren't going to hurt him. Once he was in the line, they didn't care whether he was there or not.

Something was up ahead. The grey pathway split into two, and some of the loud things chose to go one way, while others chose to stay on the original path. Which way should he choose?

There was something green over the second grey pathway, a sign of some kind. Instructions? Directions? He couldn't understand it, but knew that the white lines on it must be some form of communication. Perhaps it was a signal to the things on the pathway.

Wait.

Something about that set of white lines looked familiar.

Why should it look familiar?

He needed to find out what it meant. He moved into the new pathway, and followed the things in front of him as they slowed down to a stop. There was another sign, with the same set of familiar white lines. An arrow near the sign pointed him onto another grey path.

While he kept his concentration on the things around him, paying attention to the cues they used to start and stop, he followed the instructions on the signs. They were leading him somewhere, and he was curious.

Within half an hour, he found himself at the university.

* * *

><p>"Come on, come on, <em>somebody <em>pick up the phone," Elizabeth Knight said, pacing the small dorm room with phone in hand. One hand brushed up against her bedpost, and two steps later the same hand brushed up against her roommate's bedpost before she circled round to her own bed again. "Why won't anybody _answer_?"

She hung up the phone and redialed. This time it went through.

"Lizzie."

"Kitt!" she exclaimed, shifting the phone to the other ear, "I've been worried sick! No one's been answering-"

"I know. We are very busy, Lizz. I'd appreciate it if you would call back later."

"But Kitt, it's important! It's about Karr!" Elizabeth exclaimed, "Every day he calls to check up on me, and suddenly he just stopped. Out of the blue! Kitt, is he alright?"

"Karr is currently involved in an important mission. That is all that I'm authorized to tell you."

"But it's not like him, Kitt!" Lizzie flung herself onto her bed. "He always lets me know when he can't call me. I tried calling _him_, but he didn't answer. No one did. I tried you, mom, dad, Ashley, uncle Devon-Kitt, I've been trying to get in touch with FLAG for the past several days!"

"Like I said, we are very busy."

The tone in Kitt's voice was almost too monotone-too normal. There was something important that he wasn't telling her.

"What's going on?" Lizzie got up off the bed, "Is there an emergency?"

"There is nothing you need to worry about," Kitt said, "Your primary objective is to obtain good grades within your classes."

"Kitt," Lizzie continued, "I'm a Knight. If there is something going on, I should know about it."

"Duly noted. Now, if you will excuse me-"

"Wait Kitt!" Lizzie said, "What about-"

"I really must be going, Lizzie," Kitt interrupted, "I've spent too much time as it is. My processing power is sorely needed elsewhere. As I said, we are _all _very busy. Please do not call us again for a few weeks, unless we contact you first."

"What? But-but what if there's an emergency?"

"Call the proper authorities," Kitt responded, and without even a good-bye, he hung up the phone.

Lizzie frowned, and threw her cell phone onto the bed. Something was seriously wrong here.

"That's it," she said, "I don't care if they _don't _want me home. Something is going on over there, and I'm going to find out what it is."

She reached under her bed and pulled out her suitcase. Of course, that was the moment her roommate had chosen to walk in the door.

"Whoa," the other girl said, "What's up?"

"I'm leaving," Lizzie responded, "Something's going on at home, but no one will tell me what it is."

"So, you're just going to abandon all your classes to find out?"

"Come on, Brittany! This is clearly an emergency." Lizzie pulled open her drawer, but her roommate slammed it shut again.

"Hang on, girl. Are you sure you're not just imagining things? Maybe this is just homesickness."

"I'm _not _imagining it," Lizzie said, "They're not answering my calls. Something's up, and they need my help."

"Why don't you ask your uncle about it? You know, the one who calls you every day?"

"He's stopped calling me," Lizzie said, "That's what told me there was a problem."

"Okay, first off, calm down," her roommate said, "Your family runs their own business, right? That means they can handle it. The best thing you can do for them right now is keep on top of your studies."

"But Britt-"

"Don't 'but Britt' me!" Brittany said, "Your family sent you to school to _learn_. And you can't do that if you go running home to help them fix problems they can fix themselves. Come on, let me help you put away that suitcase."

Lizzie sighed, but let her roommate put away her suitcase.

"Besides," said Brittany, "Who's going to watch Mrs. Mahogany's house for her the next time she's away? Or take care of the Smith's dogs?"

Lizzie sighed.

"I know it's hard," Brittany said, "My own family is far away too. But think about it this way: the money you just saved traveling home, you can use for Christmas gifts or something."

"Right," Lizzie said. She didn't want to tell her roommate that that wasn't any help.

"Anyway, if you're done with classes, how about going on a walk to clear your head?" Brittany took a look around the room, "And get you out of here. I'll bet you've been in here almost all day, haven't you?"

"Right again," Lizzie said, "A walk would be good, I guess. Thanks, Britt."

"Don't mention it," Brittany said, flopping onto her bed, "Bring me back something to drink, will you? I'm going to need all the coffee I can lay my hands to start my paper tonight."

"You mean the one that's due tomorrow?" Lizzie asked, trying to hide the smile in her voice.

"Finished that, working on the next one. Get me a mocha?"

"Maybe," Lizzie said, "Or something better."

"What's better than a mocha?" Brittany asked.

Lizzie just smiled, put on her shoes and went out the door.

"Alright," she said to herself as she headed down the hall, "Think things through. Britt's right, they can handle things on their own...Can't they?"

The coffee shop she had in mind for her roommate was across campus, but even so Lizzie decided to take the long way to get there. The walk took her past several of the dormitories, the science building, a lake, and the major street. Car after car drove past her, some of them heading for the university town, some of them heading for other parts of the city.

That was where she saw a flash of black. As she always did, without thinking about it she scanned the car to note the make and model.

That was when she did a double-take.

"Kitt?" she asked in surprise, "Karr?"

The vehicle that had just driven past her could have been their double. But that was impossible. She had only had a glimpse...

"KARR!" She shouted, startling a couple other college kids on the sidewalk, "KITT!"

But unlike Kitt and Karr, who doubtless would have heard her even at that distance, the vehicle continued on.

Something was wrong. This couldn't be either Karr or Kitt. Kitt was at FLAG-nowhere near the campus, and Karr was on a mission somewhere. Besides, since when would they come to her college and completely ignore her? She must be imagining it. She was just seeing things. There had been a lot of black trans-ams built once upon a time, hadn't there?

The car came to a stop at a red light, and even though there were a few cars in line behind it, Lizzie was able to see half of the license plate. Only half, but it was enough. It was the same as Karr's.

This was too much of a coincidence. She began running towards the car as fast as she could; she had to get there before the light turned green.

"Hey!" Lizzie cried out, "Hey wait up! Karr!"

There was no sign that he had heard her. Maybe she wasn't supposed to know he was here? No, that was ridiculous. Karr _always_ let her know when she needed to pretend she didn't know him. Presumably he always did that because sometimes she would shout out his name in public. Like right now.

"WAIT! Karr!" She shouted, ignoring the looks she knew she was getting from some of the other drivers, and from some of the people on the sidewalk.

The light turned green, and to Lizzie's dismay Karr didn't wait. She could see the whole license plate now, and it was definitely him.

"HEY!" She shouted, worried that he would drive off for parts unknown without even saying hello, "YOU THERE! BLACK CAR! WAIT UP!"

If he didn't stop in response to her 'insult', nothing would stop him now.

At first it looked like nothing had happened, but then she saw it. The black vehicle pulled over to an empty parking spot the side of the road and parallel parked. Panting, Lizzie raced up to the side of the car. The dark windows had cleared, and she could see that it was empty; there was no one in the driver's seat. And the license plate was the same as she thought it was. Good, so she _wasn't _crazy. This was most definitely Karr.

"Oh good," she said, panting, "Karr, it's you! I've been trying to contact you. Kitt said you were on a mission, but why haven't you called? You had me worried!"

Nothing. There was no response.

"Karr?" She asked, "Are you okay?"

Almost imperceptibly, the car began to shiver.

"Karr?" Lizzie asked, reaching forward, "Is everything all right?"

She expected that answer to evoke some sarcastic retort, but Karr remained silent. As soon as she touched the door handle, however, Karr violently _moved_ and peeled away from her. Almost before she could breathe, he was gone.

Lizzie was left standing alone on the sidewalk, next to an empty parking space.

Her partner and best friend had run away from her.

What on earth had just happened?


	2. Message Deleted

**Gah! I know I just posted the first chapter about...three or four hours ago, but I can't help posting this!**

CHAPTER TWO

The first thing Lizzie did, after she had calmed down a little, was whip out her cell phone and dial FLAG's number. She needed to know just what was going on with Karr, and the only ones who could tell her were back at home.

"Elizabeth." Kitt answered the phone mid-way through the first ring. She wasn't all that surprised to hear him; he sometimes answered the main phone when he knew she was calling.

"Kitt, oh my gosh! It was...Karr!" Lizzie said, struggling to tell Kitt what she had just experienced.

"He is currently on a mission," Kitt said, "I thought I made myself clear earlier."

"Nonononono, you don't understand," Lizzie began. How could _that _have been a mission? Karr hadn't known who she was. Something was wrong-

"The answer is no," Kitt said.

"What? I didn't ask any-"

"It is only natural that you want to get involved," Kitt said, "But the deal was that Karr would work with FLAG during your studies at college. In return, you were to spend your time _only _at college. By the contract you drew up with your father-"

"Kitt," Lizzie said. She needed to tell him what was happening. Karr hadn't recognized her.

"-you are not allowed to go on any missions until precisely one day after graduation," Kitt finished.

"But-" Lizzie began.

"Therefore I must insist that you stay away from all communication with FLAG for the next few weeks," Kitt said.

"What?" Lizzie asked, "But Karr-"

"We are currently dealing with sensitive information, and the phones are being tapped. As such you would only be a distraction," Kitt said.

"Karr just-"

"I am sorry to be strict, but this is a matter of security. I am currently blocking your number," Kitt said, "For your safety as well as ours. DO NOT call us again."

"I just saw-hello? Hello?"

Lizzie stared down at her cell phone.

"UGH, Kitt!" She shouted to no one in particular, "Maybe dad will listen to me." She pressed one of the numbers on speed dial, but the phone didn't even ring before the call ended.

"What?" She asked, "Oh come on!" she yelled into her phone. She tried calling her dad again. Then her mom. Her sister, her sister's husband Kevin, uncle Devon-each and every time she tried a number, the call failed to go through.

Had Kitt done something to her phone? She quickly called her roommate, but hung up as soon as she heard the ring. Her phone was working after all. With everyone but her family. So Kitt hadn't been kidding when he said he was going to block her number. He had blocked her number from _everyone_ at FLAG.

Wow. That car could be so _infuriating _at times.

"What am I going to do?" She asked.

Something was wrong with Karr. He hadn't recognized her. In fact, he had been down-right _scared _of her. And that wasn't like him at all. But worse, FLAG was no help. Or more specifically, _Kitt _was no help.

Maybe if she could find out where Karr went, she could follow him and find out what was wrong. But that idea died within two seconds, as soon as she remembered that he was a car. He could be miles away by now.

And here she was, stuck on campus without a clue as to where he went, or a vehicle to chase him in. What was she going to do?

Guess she had had no choice but to get her roommate some coffee, go back to the dorms and do her homework.

She began walking to the coffee shop, but then stopped.

"No!" she shouted, startling a nearby jogger into stumbling, and with all her energy she burst into a run.

She wasn't exactly sure where she was going, except that she was heading in roughly the same direction she had last seen Karr. She ran past the shops, past the library, past the other lake. A few people glanced at her as she ran, but they continued walking. She ran until the main road merged into a much larger one at the entrance to the university, and only then did she stop, panting, as she surveyed the other street for signs of the black vehicle.

"KARR!" She shouted one last time, but aside from a head or two turning her way in confusion, there was no response.

She wasn't sure how long she stood there, but it was probably five minutes. Karr was gone.

Lizzie sighed, and went to sit down at a bus stop bench.

"Right," she said, after thinking for a while, "Guess I'd better get Brittany that coffee."

It was one of the hardest decisions she had to make, leaving her partner and annoying friend to drive who-knows-where, all because she couldn't contact anyone at home. She was positive that they would be just as surprised by this behavior as she was, but at least they could do something about it. They could come out in the Rook and find him, fix up whatever was wrong, bring him back to his grouchy old self...

But all she could do was stay here and study. At least until Kitt started taking her calls again.

It was one of the hardest decisions she ever made, but she really had no choice. Why was it, anyway, that Kitt refused to talk to her? The phones were compromised, so FLAG must be under some kind of attack again. But couldn't Kitt have listened for just a few more seconds?

The coffee shop. Normal student life. Her roommate was waiting for her. It was getting late.

She decided to take the shorter way to the coffee shop, the way that went through the woods instead of the sidewalk by the road. She looked at her watch, and came to the decision that she should try to take as many shortcuts as possible. It was getting dark, and the path she chose was not very well-lit at night.

"Alright," she whispered to herself, "Cut across the grass here, cut off from the walkway _here_, jump over those bushes-wha-HEY!" She shouted, crashing into the ground.

She got up as fast as she could to see what tripped her, scraped her hand against something and got into her fighting stance to combat the threat. But what she saw surprised her.

"Karr?" She asked, "You were hiding in the bushes?"

They were off the path, in the woods. Somehow Karr had left the road and found his way there, blending in with the twilight and the bushes. She had tripped across his hood when she tried jumping the bushes. But even as she spoke to him, he slowly began backing up.

"Nonono, it's alright!" Lizzie said, almost jumping on his hood to prevent him from leaving, "Karr, it's me! Lizzie! You don't have to run away from me."

Karr stopped, if only because Lizzie was 'holding' him. But underneath her hands, his hood and his entire frame began shivering.

"Shhh," Lizzie said, trying to calm him down, "Listen, I don't know what happened, but you know you can always trust me, right?"

The vehicle continued shivering, but the shakes were starting to get harder.

"Oh no oh no," Lizzie said. Karr was starting to freak out. He _never _freaked out. She had no idea how to handle this, "Karr, it's alright, it's alright, I promise," she said, trying not to freak out herself.

Karr wrenched himself backwards, backing over a nearby stump as he did so. Lizzie's hands slipped off his hood, but she made no move forward to place them there again.

"Karr," she said sadly.

The shivering stopped as soon as her hands were off the hood, but instead of running away Karr stayed put.

"Karr, it's alright," Lizzie said, sitting on her knees, jeans digging into the dirty ground.

The vehicle inched forward towards her slowly, ever so slowly, while Lizzie looked at him cautiously.

"I'm not going to hurt you," she said, being careful to keep her hands within sight of his scanners.

Karr came forward until he was almost too close to her for comfort. The front of his hood was almost touching the top of her head-but that was far better than being feet away. Still, it was a little awkward.

"Karr?" She said, trying not to move and also trying not to laugh, "Personal space, pal."

The black vehicle paused, but instead of moving back he inched forward just a little more. Lizzie stayed absolutely still, and tried not to move when she felt the hood connect with her head.

"Are you going anywhere with this?" She asked, trying to place laughter in her voice.

Silence. She could hear the sound of the scanner up against her head. A few people went past them on the path, making a racket; but the bushes hid them both from sight, and Karr didn't seem to be in any hurry to leave her head alone. This was getting creepy. Just what was he doing?

"Did you fall asleep or something?" She asked, expecting one of his famous retorts.

Nothing. No response whatsoever.

Lizzie finally dared to turn her head, and only then did Karr back away from her. Just slightly. As if her movement scared him.

"There," Lizzie said, as quietly and calmly as she could, while repositioning herself into a more comfortable position. "So. How have you been?"

Once again, no response.

"Right," she said, "First order of business, then: find out what's going on."

Still seated on the ground, she slowly and carefully pulled out her cell phone and began dialing Kitt's number. Once again, it cut off before the dial tone.

"Maybe if I send a text," she said, typing in "_With Karr-come right away" _into her cell phone. She addressed it to Kitt and pressed send.

_Error: Message Undeliverable. Message Deleted._

She tried sending it to everyone she knew at FLAG, but each time, the result was the same.

"That's Kitt for you," Lizzie said, momentarily forgetting that she needed to be calm and quiet, "He's _very _thorough."

She looked up at Karr. "Can you bypass his phone block so I can get a message through?"

She almost didn't expect a response, but this time she got one. Karr began shaking even more violently than before.

"Hey, wait, calm down," Lizzie said, jumping up and touching his hood again, "I'm sorry! You don't have to do it if you don't want to-"

She made her mistake by touching him. Karr wrenched himself away from her, and she fell onto the ground.

"Right," she said, spitting out a blade of grass or two as she got up, "No touching. Sorry."

Karr was still there, at least. He hadn't run away, but he was shaking again.

"Karr," Lizzie said, stepping forward. Karr took an equal drive backwards, keeping her at a distance.

Lizzie stopped, and frowned. Just what was she going to do? Maybe Karr could clue her in.

"I have no idea what to do," she told him, "What happened to you? How can I help?"

Karr didn't make a move. It was clear to Lizze now that he didn't trust her, at least not fully. Worse, he definitely didn't recognize her. Just what had happened to him on that mission of his? Did Kitt know this had happened?

Karr began slowly backing up. Lizzie decided to just pretend she couldn't see him. Maybe then he would come back and trust her again. And if he didn't? Well, she would cross that bridge when she came to it. She curled her legs up to her face so that she couldn't see him, and waited.

She didn't know if he could tell when she started to cry.


	3. Black Silhouette

CHAPTER THREE

Lizzie had no idea how long she sat there, brushing off a few insects and desperately trying not to look up and see if Karr was still there. Suddenly, something touched her shoulder-with a small shriek she backpedaled and fell onto the ground.

Karr. Karr had come up so close to her, and she hadn't realized it. But as soon as she reacted, it was too late. He gunned his engine in reverse, and within seconds he was gone, racing away on the uneven terrain.

"Wait!" Lizzie cried out, but it was too late. She had scared him away, and with a heavy heart she realized that he probably wouldn't be coming back.

So much for trying to be non-threatening.

Her phone buzzed, and she quickly yanked it from her pocket. Maybe it was Kitt-

_You still alive? Writing a paper. Need caffeine._

It was her roommate. And she wanted coffee.

Lizzie threw her phone onto the ground.

Why did her roommate have to text her right now? She was in the middle of a crisis, for Pete's sake! Didn't she know that? No. Of course she didn't. Her roommate didn't know a thing about what was happening.

"Breath, Elizabeth," she told herself, forcing herself to calm down. Using her full name helped, a little. "Think," she said.

This whole situation was bad. Something was seriously wrong with Karr, and there seemed to be nothing she could do about it.

But there must be _something_.

How was she going to get in contact with her family? They never cut off contact with each other...unless there was a serious emergency. Kitt had tried to downplay the situation, but clearly there was something going on. And if someone was attacking FLAG, any way to contact them involving the internet was out of the question. It was too easily compromised, and only Kitt could send a properly-encoded email.

She could go home and tell them what was happening, but she would need to drive Karr to do that. And aside from the fact that he had disappeared in the park somewhere, he wasn't about to even let her touch him. Besides, there was school. And what if Kitt already knew what was going on with Karr? He would only get mad at her for skipping classes.

She could use a friend's phone to call someone at home-no, that one's no good. Using other people's phones is just as bad as the internet. She could ask a friend to give FLAG the message to come as soon as possible, but if things at home are bad it would be a while before they came. And even then, they wouldn't know to bring the Rook.

So, what should she do?

Lizzie stood up and brushed the dirt off her jeans, then picked up her cell phone from where she had dropped it.

"Alright," she said, looking at the text still displayed on the screen, "I'll do everything I can do, and if I stay calm, I'll think of a way to contact them. But first things first," she said, hopping over the bushes and back onto the path, "I'd better get Brittany some coffee before it gets too dark to see."

On second thought, she changed her mind and jumped back over the bushes.

"Maybe I can find out where he went," she said, and although it was getting dark she took off into the woods.

Just what was she hoping to find? She wasn't sure, but she carefully made her way where she thought a car might fit. Those trees were too close together, so he couldn't have come that way. Those trees? He probably did. Ha, look! Tire tracks! She was hot on his trail.

The problem with this forest was that it was in the middle of campus. All of a sudden the trees disappeared, and Lizzie found herself standing on the edge of the woods. A road ran parallel to the woods.

"Oh no," Lizzie said, recognizing where she was.

Diagonally across the street from her was the coffee shop.

* * *

><p>It wasn't until she got back to her dorm room and handed her roommate some coffee that Lizzie thought of checking her email. What if Kitt had sent her something? Like, say, an explanation of what was going on?<p>

"Come on, come on, please give me _something_," she said, firing up her computer, "Yes!"

She had a new email in her inbox. The sender was anonymous, and in this case that was probably a good thing. Risking a virus, she clicked on it.

_Lizzie,_ it began:

_Please forgive my harsh treatment of you over the phone. There has been a breach at FLAG, and I suspect that all of our conversations are compromised. Note that there is no need for action on your part. However, you _MUST NOT _mention either my name or Karr's in communication. They are being scanned for by the intruder._

Well. So _that _was why Kitt kept cutting her off when she tried to talk to him about Karr!

_Once again_, the email continued, _there is no need for you to worry. This is not your case, and we have matters under control. I am not authorized to tell you anything more except to stress that you do not attempt to contact us again, in case you are targeted by association. I will also stress that we will contact you when it is safe to do so. In the meantime, keep up with your studies and do well in your exams._

Puh, Lizzie scoffed. What if whoever was breaching FLAG found out that she was a Knight and came to her college anyway? Without a way to contact FLAG, Kitt was no help to her there.

_Sincerely, K.I.T.T._

_P.S. Do not respond to this email. This message will be deleted twenty minutes after being opened. _

Lizzie banged her hand on the table. There was no way she could contact FLAG now!

"You okay?" Her roommate asked.

"Just fine, Britt," Lizzie answered.

There must be something she could do. There must be _something _she could do!

Hmm. Repeating herself wasn't helping.

"I think I need to go for another walk," she said, getting up, "To clear the head."

"You do that," Brittany said, deeply engrossed in whatever she was doing, "Take my flashlight if you want."

"Thanks," Lizzie said, grabbing the flashlight from the foot of her roommate's bed. It might come in handy, since it was dark already.

Lizzie left the room, closing the door softly behind her. She didn't know where she was heading, but maybe one of the coffee places was still open. She could order something and try to think things through...

She was out of the building before she even noticed where she was going, almost crashing into something on the other side of the door. Huh, looks like someone parked their car right up against the door.

Wait a minute.

"Karr?" She asked.

The black vehicle quickly backed up as soon as she spoke, deserting the well-lit area around the door to hide in the shadows.

"Karr! You're back!" Lizzie said, stepping forward.

It was all she could do to stop herself from running forward and landing on his hood in her form of a 'hug'. Karr always hated when she did that. Instead, she took a deep breath and forced herself to step forward slowly and deliberately.

"It's alright, Karr," she said, wondering exactly why Karr had followed her to her dorm building, "I'm not going to hurt you."

The both of them moved slowly, Lizzie forward, and Karr backwards. Liz made sure to keep her steps even and predictable.

"Alright, this is a good place to stop," she said. They were far enough away from the building that they weren't easily seen, especially since there were trees scattered around them, but there was enough open space for Karr to leave if he felt like it. They weren't on a road, though. Karr had backed up onto the grass.

He stopped when she did, and that was when Lizzie sat down.

"So." She said, trying to keep her voice calm and slow, "How are you doing, Karr?"

It was a little hard for her to see him since he blended in with the night, but she could tell that he was shaking again.

"It's a nice night, isn't it?" She asked, trying to calm the both of them down, "I wish the moon was out, though. There should be stars, but I think there are clouds covering them."

There was no response.

"The weather is supposed to be nice tomorrow," she said, "It's going to be warmer."

It looked like Karr stopped shaking. That was good, at least. What else could she talk about?

"So, um, in one of my classes I have to write a paper on Plato's Analogy of the Cave," she said, saying the first things that came into her mind, "I like that class. We're going to go from Plato to Aristotle soon. You know that Aristotle was supposed to be Plato's successor? But they gave the position to Plato's nephew. Nepotism, you know. That kind of reminds me of a show I saw last week-"

At this point, she expected Karr to interrupt her to tell her to stop rambling. Or to berate her for telling him things he already knows.

But he didn't. He didn't say a single word.

"Um," she said, deciding to change the subject herself, "I don't think you've seen my campus ever since you dropped me off. They've changed a few things. You remember that empty corner where you said the school needed a statue or something? Now they have a statue there. Oh! And they've changed the way the cafeteria looks. They've replaced all the tables and everything. Not that you were ever in there. But it's a change, right?"

Karr was still silent. She couldn't even see his outline anymore. Come to think of it, why couldn't she see his red scanner in the dark? Did he turn it off? Wait. _Could _he turn it off? She had never thought to ask him that question before.

"Let's see," she said, turning back to the task at hand and racking her brain for something else to say, "I talked with Ashley a few days ago. She's making a scrapbook, and filling it all up with photos they took on the honeymoon. Um, haven't talked with Mom or Dad in a while. I tried earlier, but Kitt keeps blocking me from FLAG. It makes me wonder what it is that's going on over there, you know? And what happened to you. Kitt said you were out on a mission, but wouldn't say anything about it."

She glanced in the dark at the spot where Karr was, trying to spot his outline.

"Where are you, anyway?" She asked, "You blend in with the dark really, really well."

She stood up to change her position, hoping to see that all-too familiar black silhouette.

"Wait a minute," she said, stepping forwards.

She could see a light off in the distance. It probably belonged to a biker or someone doing some night jogging. The problem was that this tiny pinprick of light was moving right through the spot where Karr should have been.

In other words, Karr wasn't there. She had been speaking to thin air.

"Well," she said, sighing, "Guess you can be sneakier than I thought."

One moment her friend and partner was there, and the next he wasn't. What was going on here?

Karr wasn't acting right. He didn't recognize her. He hadn't said a word since she first saw him, and he didn't seem to mind driving in the grass.

Lizzie's eyes opened wide.

The grass! Why was Karr so often in the grass? Earlier that day he had driven through the forest like it was nothing. Just now he had backed up onto the grassy field near her dorm. He wasn't using the road. Why not?

Then it hit her like a thunderbolt. Karr had forgotten the rules of driving. He parked in front of the front door of her building, instead of in a parking space. Granted, she had seen him driving on the road. But he could have just been imitating the cars around him, after all, Karr always was a quick learner.

Lizzie didn't want to admit it, but Karr had to have amnesia. It was the only logical explanation for his strange behavior. In fact, it was the _only _explanation for his behavior.

And when she thought about it, she had known that all along. The question was, how was she going to help him regain his memory?

Thoughts do not take long to cross the mind, and for Lizzie these thoughts took less than a third of a second. What took her out of these thoughts was the sudden action of something rubbing up against her leg, and it wasn't a bug. With a small gasp, she jumped forwards and turned around as quickly as she could to defend herself.

Her eyes met a flashing red scanner.

"How?" she asked.

Talk about being sneaky. Karr had somehow come up _behind _her. How had he done that? He recoiled a little when she jumped away from him, but at least he didn't run away like the last time they had surprised each other.

"Sorry Karr," Lizzie said, forcing herself to relax, "You just startled me, that's all."

Silence.

"So," she continued, noticing that Karr _hadn't _run away from her yet, "What are we going to do next?"

Karr didn't move, other than his scanner. Lizzie was thankful that he hadn't turned it off again. He was close enough now that she could almost touch him.

"Do you remember anything that happened?" She asked, "Anything at all?"

Again, no answer.

Lizzie opened her mouth to speak again when Karr started flashing his headlights at her. Slowly first, then quickly-

"What?" she asked, turning to look behind her, "Is something wrong?"

But no, Karr didn't seem too worried. He stopped flashing his lights and turned them off. Then he turned his lights back on and began repeating the flashing pattern.

"Whoa whoa whoa, please slow down," Lizzie said, "What are you trying to say?"

She tried to pay more attention to the pattern Karr was using. He flashed his lights slowly, then quickly...and then she lost the pattern again. Finally he paused, and then apparently repeated the pattern.

"I'm pretty sure that's not Morse code," Lizzie observed.

As if her voice had pressed an imaginary button, Karr stopped flashing his headlights and turned them off.

"No, wait, I didn't mean to stop!" Lizzie said, "I just don't understand it, that's all."

Karr flashed his headlights once at her, and she could tell that he was a little annoyed.

"Look, I'm sorry," she said, "I don't under-"

Karr flashed his headlights at her again.

"-stand," she finished.

She thought about it for a minute. Karr apparently couldn't communicate with her.

"Alright, let's try this for now," She said, coming up with the only thing she could think of, "Two short flashes mean 'yes', and one long flash for 'no'. Will that work?"

There was no answer. Maybe his hearing was off. But that couldn't be right, he had clearly been able to hear her earlier.

"Well," she said, going back to the first question she had asked. "Do you remember anything that happened to you?"

There was no answer for a few seconds, then Karr began flashing his headlights at her again. To Lizzie's surprise, it was apparently the same pattern he had used earlier.

"Fixing this this is going to be a problem," Lizzie thought out loud_._

Karr paused for a few seconds, and then flashed the same pattern again.

That was when Lizzie realized something very important. It was only an idea, and she would need to test it, but it seemed possible and it fit with the amnesia.

"Um," she said, trying to make this next sentence sound as casual as possible, "The purple hippo sat on the apple, but the jewelry box wouldn't fire any catapults."

It was the most ridiculous thing she could think of saying. If Karr didn't acknowledge that, or wasn't confused by it at all, then he was in bigger trouble than she thought.

She watched him carefully. Karr began the pattern again, but he didn't so much as flinch from the absurdity of her sentence.

That was when Lizzie knew for certain the extent of Karr's amnesia. He couldn't even understand what she was saying.


	4. Trust

**Thanks for the reviews! Hope you enjoy this next chapter.**

CHAPTER FOUR

"Ooooh, this is bad," Lizzie said, taking a step back.

Karr had to have complete and total amnesia. How was this even possible? How was he even functioning?

Karr paused his headlight message, and rolled forward to bring the distance between them back to what it was. Then he began flashing his headlights again.

"I'm really sorry," Lizzie said, "But I don't understand what you're trying to tell me, Karr."

Karr flashed her once irritably, then stopped.

"Alright," Lizzie said, talking to herself, "If Mom were here, she would know how to handle this. She knows everything about you and Kitt. But I can't contact her. But if she were here, what would she do right about now?"

Lizzie stared at Karr. The vehicle was silent, listening intently to her even though he couldn't understand a word she said.

"She would check under the hood," Lizzie said, "To see if anything is out of place. I can do that. Karr, do you mind if I check under your hood?"

There was no answer, of course, so she walked softly towards him. He backed away just a little, but only about an inch. Lizzie walked right up to his hood, praying she would do this right without scaring him away again.

"Karr," she said, keeping her voice even, "Can you open your hood for me?"

It wasn't until she asked him that, that she realized how dangerous a question it was. He hadn't even wanted her to touch him earlier. She gulped.

"Your hood," she repeated, pointing to the front of the car, "can you open it?"

She attempted to pantomime opening the hood, but to her horror Karr's only response was to start shivering again.

"Oh, no!" She said, trying to calm him down, "It's alright! I didn't mean to scare you-"

Her hands landed automatically on his hood, and Karr went completely still. Inwardly, Lizzie cringed. How could she make that same mistake again? Touching him right now was not good.

Taking a deep breath, Lizzie decided to stay right where she was and let Karr get used to her. At least he had stopped shivering. She waited for what seemed like hours, but was probably closer to five minutes, before she decided she could speak again.

"It's alright," she whispered.

Karr began shivering again.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Lizzie said.

The shivering didn't stop, and she was getting tired, but she didn't dare to take her hands off the hood. So she decided to slowly lower herself onto the ground. As soon as she was seated, Karr stopped shivering and thrust his front bumper forward until it touched her head.

"Karr?" Lizzie asked, "What are you doing?"

She turned her head around to see him better, taking her head away from Karr's bumper in the process. Instantly Karr began shivering again.

"Hey, shhh," Lizzie said, reaching out to touch his scanner, "It's alright, Karr."

The shivering stopped and the scanner went black as soon as she touched it.

"What?" she whispered, withdrawing her hand.

Instantly, the scanner lit back up and the shivering began anew.

"I'm beginning to see a pattern here," she said, touching the scanner again.

Once again, the shivering and the scanner stopped.

"Oh wow," Lizzie whispered.

She almost couldn't believe it, but it looked like Karr was going into short bouts of recharge. A recharge that was interrupted every time she took away contact. What had someone done to him, her best friend, to bring this about?

She really needed to find a way to contact FLAG.

She decided to keep her hand on his scanner for a while. After waiting until she assumed Karr was likely in a deeper state of recharge, Lizzie slowly got off the ground and began walking towards one of the quietest corners of campus.

"I am going to call Kitt," she whispered to herself, "And I am going to _get through to his thick skull_ that I need to talk to him. And then Mom and Uncle Devon and Dad and Kitt and everyone else who wants to can come here and find out what's going on here, and how to reverse it. And then-oh. I missed the turn. Where's the moon when you need-"

She rapidly turned around, and almost tripped.

"What?"

Karr backed up just a little, but didn't run away from her.

"You've been following me," Lizzie said.

Karr rolled forward until his bumper touched her legs. Then, with was seemed to be an audible sigh, the entire car relaxed as the scanner went dark.

And there they were on the sidewalk, in plain view of anyone who happened to walk by.

Oh boy.

"It's going to be a long night," Lizzie sighed.

* * *

><p>When the first pink touches of the sun finally began to grace the sky, Lizzie was still awake. Through the night she had coaxed Karr to follow her across campus until they had reached the parking lot closest to her dorm, and after an inordinate amount of time she managed to finally get him properly parked within the two white lines marking a single parking space. There were several close calls at that point, both with people passing by in the middle of the night and with Karr very nearly crashing into every car in the parking lot as he tried to understand Lizzie's hand signals.<p>

Once Karr was safely parked, Lizzie sat up against his front hood and he fell back into recharge. She spent the rest of the night exactly as she was. Although it was uncomfortable, it wasn't as if she could go anywhere; Karr woke up whenever she so much as moved.

The night passed by forever, and it gave Lizzie plenty of time to think. But as the sun threatened to rise, Lizzie knew that she couldn't stay there much longer. People would begin to notice her sitting there, and the ground was pretty uncomfortable. Besides, she had classes later that afternoon.

It seemed as if Karr had had enough recharge, so Lizzie got up. His scanner fluctuated sluggishly.

"It's alright, go back to sleep," Lizzie whispered, patting the hood.

The scanner went dark.

Just how much sleep had Karr gotten before that night? Honestly, he acted like he had never recharged before.

Lizzie stretched and went back into her dorm. A flight of stairs and a hallway later, she entered her dorm room and after a few steps collapsed onto her bed.

"You stayed out all night, didn't you?" Brittany asked, sitting cross-legged on her bed with her laptop in front of her. Why was her roommate such a morning person?

"Hmphphph," Lizzie mumbled into her pillow. As long as Karr was still recharging, she might as well get some shuteye herself.

Her roommate, however, apparently disagreed.

"Aren't you supposed to take care of the Smith's dogs this morning?"

Lizzie groaned and hit her pillow with a fist, then slowly lifted herself up to a sitting position.

She must have looked pretty angry, because Brittany thought she was hilarious. Her roommate burst out laughing.

"Sorry," Britt apologized, "But it serves you right for being out all night!"

In other words, she wasn't sorry at all.

Lizzie sighed and got off her bed. "I'm going to change before I go," she said, "Think I have time for a shower?"

"Maybe. If you hurry," Brittany said, glancing at Lizzie's analog clock on the wall.

"Then I'd better get going," Lizzie said.

Honestly, she felt all gross from sitting out in the parking lot all night, and wearing the same clothes she wore yesterday seemed like a bad idea. But the dogs she was going to walk were usually pretty messy, and it would probably be best to wait until after she walked them before she showered. So she settled on brushing her hair and reapplying deodorant to make sure she didn't smell too badly.

"Alright, see you later Brit!" She called out, opening the door to leave.

Only she couldn't leave. There was someone on the other side of the door, ready to knock, and incidentally blocking her way.

"Elizabeth Knight?" The woman asked.

"Yes?"

"I'm from Campus Security," the woman said, gesturing to her uniform, "I'm here to deliver you a warning."

Lizzy's eyes grew wide.

"What's this about?" She asked.

"Well, normally we give students warnings on their vehicles. If there's still a problem, we send them an email. But in this case, we decided to talk to you right away."

"What happened?" Lizzy asked.

The woman looked at her suspiciously.

"Parking violations," she said, "To put it mildly. The past six improperly parked vehicles all campus all happened to have the same thing in common: they were all the same vehicle. _Your _vehicle."

"What?" Lizzy asked, confused.

"The car in question," the security officer continued, "Has been registered to you since the first day of classes."

"That can't be right," Lizzy said, "I didn't register any vehicle. There must be some mistake."

"Oho, there's no mistake," the lady said, shoving a piece of paper into Lizzy's face, "See this? It's a copy of the car registration form submitted to us at the beginning of the school year. Right here is _your name_, right next to _your dorm room number_ and _your car's _identifying information. Black vehicle, Pontiac Trans Am, California license plate."

Lizzy took the piece of paper and looked at the license plate number. It was Karr's.

"What?" she whispered outloud.

She hadn't done this. She hadn't even _thought _of doing this. But Karr, on his own, had registered himself as her vehicle with her school. As far as she knew, not even her father or her sister had done the same thing with Kitt. It was akin to claiming ownership over him.

The fact that Karr had done this of his own free will surprised her. Why would he do that?

"You see?" the woman continued, "Now, up until now everything has been fine and dandy. But if you continue to park illegally like you did yesterday, there are going to be some repercussions. Are you aware that blocking the exit of a building is a major violation of the fire code?"

"I-I'm sorry," Lizzy said.

"Then consider this your warning," The security officer said, "Because next time, we won't go light on you. Got that?"

Lizzy nodded, stunned by the reprimand. She wasn't used to being in trouble. Well, she was used to her life being in danger, but this kind of trouble was a new experience. And being in trouble for something she didn't do made it even worse.

"Alright." The lady said, "Now, I'm not going to forget this conversation. But I suggest you move your car from the handicapped parking spot before you get into even more trouble."

"The handicapped what?" Lizzy asked, "He's not-I mean, I made sure that Karr was parked right last night."

She slipped up a little by saying his name, but thankfully the woman assumed she said the word 'car'.

"Well, for your information," the woman said, "Your car was parked in the handicapped parking space when I passed it in the parking lot on my way up here. I suggest you fix that immediately."

The woman turned to leave without any further word of farewell. As soon as she was two steps away, Lizzy softly closed the door.

"I didn't know you had a car on campus," Brittany said, speaking from her bed.

Such is college life, where everybody overhears everything.

"Guess I'd better go move him out of the parking lot," Lizzy said, opening the door again.

"Don't forget about the dogs!" Brittany called out, and Lizzy cringed as she closed the door behind her. Because, to tell the truth, she _had _forgotten about the dogs.

Down the hallway, down the stairs, out the door. The sun had come up all the way by now. And there, surprise surprise, was Karr sitting politely in the handicapped parking spot. He had woken from his recharge much, _much _sooner than she had anticipated.

"Karr," Lizzie said, trying to keep her voice to a whisper, "Do you know how much _trouble _you got me into?"

Karr flashed with his headlights in response, using a quick pattern of short and long flashes. It wasn't the same pattern he had been using the night before. It seemed to indicate that, contrary to whatever she said, he was glad to see her.

But why did he move parking spots? She glanced at the handicapped spot, and only then did she notice its strategic position. It was two floors below her dorm room window. Lizzy shook her head, but couldn't help smiling.

"You can't park in the handicapped spots, alright?" she said, "Come on, it's time to move to another parking space."

She walked over to his driver's side door and reached for the handle. It wouldn't open.

"Karr?" Lizzie asked, "Aren't you going to let me in?"

Apparently not. She tried the handle again, and Karr revved his engine. Quickly, Lizzie took her hand away from the door. Well, at least this was still better than when he ran away at a single touch.

"Alright, we're going to have to do this another way," Lizzie said.

It took a little bit of coaxing, but Karr apparently remembered the hand directions she had used to direct him the night before. The hard part was that the campus was starting to wake up, and Lizzie didn't want anyone to notice what they were doing. The nearest open parking spot wasn't too far away, but they had to move fast while also making sure that Karr didn't crash into any of the other vehicles.

"Good," she said approvingly when Karr was all settled in front-end first, "Now, just stay there for a while, alright? I'm going to take care of the Smith's dogs. They should be pretty restless by now. I'll be back as soon as I'm done."

She turned around to walk away, but stopped.

"Stay there," she repeated, then left the parking lot.

She turned around one last time to check if Karr was still in the spot she left him in, before she took off down the closest sidewalk.

"Alright," she said, not caring who heard her speaking outloud, "I'm running late for the dogs, but I should try calling home again. If I can't contact them now, I'll try again later."

She cut across the pathway, looked each way and crossed the street before she took off down another sidewalk.

"Once Kitt sees how much I'm calling him, maybe he'll realize it's an emergency," she told herself.

She opened up her phone as she ran, and pressed a button on speed dial.

The number hung up on her before the first ring.

With a groan, Lizzie pressed the _next _number. The result was the same, so she went down the list of everyone she knew at FLAG, even her sister.

What was _wrong _with FLAG? Why didn't they have their hacker taken care of by now? She had no idea how to deal with this situation, and she needed help. It was becoming increasingly awkward to treat Karr like a little kid instead of the dangerous, difficult partner that he was.

She reached the last phone number she knew by heart. Still nothing. And she had finally reached the Smith's house. With a sigh, Lizzie put her phone away and stepped up to the door. There were dogs that she needed to take care of, and then her vehicular partner. She would try calling again later.

Lizzie took out the house key and unlocked the front door, but a sound behind her made her turn around.

And there, parked patiently and conspicuously on the front lawn of the Smith house, was Karr. His front tires were in Mrs. Smith's flowerbeds.


	5. Rainwater

**Once again, thank you for your reviews!  
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CHAPTER FIVE

"WHOA, hold up, back up!" Lizzie said, springing from the front door to Karr, "You can't drive on the flowers!"

She pushed Karr's hood, and almost to her surprise he took the hint and moved backwards.

"There, stay on the driveway," she said, "I've got to go inside and-"

"Wow, you're strong." A small voice said.

"What?" Lizzie asked, looking up.

"You pushed that car with your hands," the voice continued.

A quick glance showed Lizzie that the voice was coming from a little girl on a scooter on the sidewalk.

Uh oh.

"Um, thanks," Lizzie said awkwardly, "Um, I eat all my vegetables."

She turned back to Karr.

"Wait here," she whispered, giving him the _stay _gesture with her hand.

Then, before the girl on the scooter could ask her any more questions, she quickly walked back up to the front door of the house, let herself inside and took the key in with her.

She was immediately assailed by three excited dogs, two large and one small.

"Okay, okay!" She said, putting the key in her pocket, "Just let me take care of your food and water first. Then we'll go for a walk. Alright?"

Instead of calming down, the dogs became more excited. But of course Lizzy was expecting that. She had said the magic word 'walk,' after all.

A short while later, she excited the house with all three dogs on separate leashes. To her relief, the girl on the scooter was gone and Karr was still there, exactly as she had left him.

"Good," she whispered.

She walked up the Karr, and the three dogs ran forward to sniff him out. Karr backed up a few feet and started shivering.

Whoops. Should have seen that coming.

"No no it's alright," Lizzie said, reining the dogs in closer to her and away from Karr, "They're not going to hurt you. See? They're just excited, that's all. I'm going to give them a walk. I'm going to walk them around the block, and then we'll come right back. Alright? You stay right there until I get back."

She walked the dogs down the driveway and began walking down the sidewalk. Behind her, she could hear Karr's engine start up.

"Oh no, tell me he isn't doing what I think he is," she whispered aloud.

Karr drove up next to her, using the street this time instead of the grass.

"He is," she sighed. Then, trying to speak to him without drawing too much attention, "Karr, I'm just walking the dogs. You can wait back at the Smith's house."

No response. Karr just continued driving, keep at a slow pace to match hers.

"Well," Lizzie said, "We might as well walk to the park then. I can let the dogs play, and you won't look too out of place in the parking lot."

Karr flashed his headlights.

"What was that?" Lizzie asked, stopping in mid-step. The dogs weren't too happy about that, and tried to pull her further, but she stood her ground. "What did you say, Karr?"

Karr flashed his headlights again, a little slower this time.

"Alright," Lizzie said, paying close attention to the pattern, "Long flash, short flash, short, long, short, short, short, long, long, short..."

She lost track around there, but it seemed to her as if this was the same pattern Karr had flashed at her the night before.

"Ugh!" She exclaimed, letting the dogs finally pull her forward again, "Can you wait until I have a pen and paper to write this all down?"

Karr stopped flashing, but set off next to her at the same pace as before as if he had never flashed his headlights in the first place.

"Right," Lizzie said, "Well, we'll figure that out soon. In the meantime, let's focus on the issue at hand: how to get to the park safely."

It wasn't as difficult as she thought it would be to lead Karr past the houses to the park. The area where the Smith family and their dogs lived was near the dullest edge of campus, and the community consisted mostly of retired people. The few families with children were usually comprised of parents who studied on campus with children younger than ten years of age.

So even though there was always the chance someone would peek out of their window to see the slow-moving black car following Lizzie as she walked the dogs, compared to the rest of campus it was eerily quiet.

The playground itself was mostly empty when they got there. A few students were studying on park benches, but they were on the other side of the playground. The park itself was surrounded by woods on three of its sides, with plenty of clean-cut grass between the wood and the playground. It was in there that the dogs liked to play.

Lizzie walked Karr over to the parking lot in front of the playground, and had him park close to a park bench. One by one she released the dogs from their leashes, and sat down on the bench as they scampered off. They had at least half an hour to spend here.

She looked at the sky. It looked like it could rain soon. Huh. It wasn't supposed to rain today. Hopefully they would be gone before it started.

"Might as well make the best of my time," Lizzie said, looking at Karr.

Karr was silent, but his scanner was very active. He had moved a little closer to her where she was sitting; his tires were over the white lines of his parking spot.

"I'm going to call FLAG again," Lizzie said outloud, "If Kitt is keeping a tight eye on the phone line, then he probably knows I've been trying to call them already. He might be keeping track of how many times I've already called. Hopefully he's pretty annoyed at me by now, but if I know Kitt, he's not going to answer me just because he's annoyed. Maybe, though, I can send him a message..."

She was silent for a while.

"Aha!" She finally said, her excitement causing Karr's scanner to move just a little faster than normal, "Morse code! Maybe I can call again in an SOS pattern-three short tries, three longer tries spaced further apart, and three short tries again. Could that work?"

It sounded like it might. She pulled out her phone, and pressed the button on speed dial which connects directly to Kitt.

No answer, just as she expected. The number died on her without so much as bringing her to his voicemail. Quickly, Lizzie called that same number again two more times. After the third time, she waited half a minute and then called again. When that call ended, she waited for fifteen seconds before calling, and then did the same for her third 'long' call. She then waited another half a minute before dialing the number three times for the last three 'short' parts of the SOS.

Then she put down the phone and waited for a response.

One minute passed. Two minutes. Five.

Nothing. There was no response. Not even a text saying _Nice Try_.

Lizzie looked at the dogs to see if they were still running around within view. Then she looked over at Karr, to make sure that he was still there as well. He had moved a little closer to her again and was now taking up two parking spaces, but at least he was still there.

With a sigh Lizzie huffed and repeated dialing her SOS signal, keeping her eyes on the dogs. This time she waited ten minutes before repeating the calls. After waiting ten more minutes after that, she finally pocketed her phone.

"Either Kitt knows I've called an SOS three times and is _ignoring _it," she said, "Or he has no idea what I just did."

She glanced at her watch. They had been there for a little over half an hour.

"How are you doing, Karr?" She asked, looking over at him.

Karr was halfway on the grass now, facing a tree and apparently scanning it.

"Hey hey, off the grass!" Lizzie said, getting off the park bench and pushing Karr back into the parking lot, "You don't want me to get into trouble again, do you?"

Karr responded by flashing his favorite headlight pattern at her.

"Right," Lizzie said, although she had no idea what he was saying, "Now, just stay there. We'll be leaving soon anyway."

She looked back at the dogs, then at the sky. The threat of rain she had seen earlier was turning into a real possibility.

"Hm, maybe I should start getting them back now," she said outloud, "Before the rain hits."

She cupped her hands to her mouth and called out the dogs' names one by one. They were well-trained dogs, which is why she could let them off the leash without worrying about them, but like many dogs at play they didn't come to her right away.

She called to them a second time, and this time the smallest dog came running. With a pet and a snuggle, Lizzie tied him to his leash as the other two dogs-seeing the treatment the smallest was getting-decided that they wanted to come back too.

At this point Lizzie felt the first raindrop.

"Well, it's raining," she said.

Karr revved his engine behind her, and Lizzie turned to look at him even as she clicked the second dog's leash into place.

"What's wrong, Karr?" Lizzie asked, reaching for the third dog's collar.

The black vehicle moved backwards into the parking lot, then just as quickly moved forward onto the grass and crashed hood first into a tree.

"Karr?" Lizzie asked, snapping the third dog's collar into place and ignoring the next several drops of rain, "Are you alright?"

Instead of responding, Karr backed up from the tree-leaving behind a nasty scratch-and made a rapid reverse turn to the right, banging his rear bumper violently into the park bench.

"Karr!" Lizzie said, stepping forward, bringing the three dogs with her.

Karr drove forwards now, and with a small turn he was in the parking lot again. The rain began to fall more often now.

"What's going on?" Lizzie asked, racing after him.

Driving as if he was drunk, Karr swerved alternatively to the left and right.

"Karr, stop!" Lizzie cried, running up to his bumper.

She saw the rain land on Karr's hood, and Karr swerved to the left again. A drop landed to the left of his front left wheel, and he moved to the right.

No. It couldn't be the rain. Could it?

"It's only rain, Karr," Lizzie said, "It won't hurt you!"

The rain was no longer a drizzle. It started to come down in sheets, and Karr was driving increasingly erratically.

"Karr!" Lizzie cried out as her partner left the parking lot, "Calm down! It's alright!"

Just past the park there was a tree over the road, next to a small suburban house. Karr found the tree and parked underneath it, even as the rain became harder than ever.

"Karr, it's alright," Lizzie said, running over to him. The dogs with her were having the time of their lives, trying every way they could to tangle her up as they chased the raindrops.

Karr only stood there shivering. The tree couldn't keep all the rain from hitting him, but it did keep much of it out.

"Karr, it's alright," Lizzie repeated, reaching forward to touch him and calm him down with the hand that wasn't holding the dogs.

That was the moment, however, that the dogs chose to come under the tree too and shake themselves off.

Then something horrible happened. Karr screamed. It was the sound of his engine and his horn, and it sounded terrible. Lizzie shrieked, and fell backwards into the rain while the three dogs jumped and barked around her. Before she could say or do anything, Karr sped past her into the rain he was so frightened of and drove between the grass separating two houses across the street.

Lizzie was soaked to the bone, but she quickly jumped up. She almost ran after him, but she tripped on the dog leashes.

"Right," she said, spitting wet hair out of her eyes, "I'd better get you guys home first."

It didn't take too long to run to the Smith home in the rain with the dogs, get them inside and dry them off, but it felt like forever. After making sure that she had done everything for the dogs that she was responsible for doing, and after she had quickly dried the wet floor where the dogs had entered, Lizzy said good-bye to them and left the house, locking it behind her. She took a deep breath, and ran out into the pouring rain.

The first thing she did was go to the last place she had seen her partner. Backtracking down the street, she raced back to the large tree and tore off across the grass between two houses in the same direction Karr had last gone.

The rain was coming down in buckets, and it was hard for her to see five feet ahead of her. Lizzie just kept running, looking around every corner for some hint of black...

* * *

><p>It was still raining some time later when Lizzie finally walked back to her dorm room, sopping wet.<p>

"Brit?" She asked, unlocking the door.

But her roommate wasn't there.

"Probably at class," Lizzie assumed.

She looked at the clock and cringed. She was already late for _her_ class. What was worse, she would have to miss it today.

"Karr is so going to kill me for skipping class," she said, "But then, this _is _his fault."

Quickly, Lizzie grabbed some clean clothes from her drawer. She was only here to dry off, and then she was going back out there again.

Where could Karr have gone? She had looked everywhere she could think of. In fact, her first reason for coming to the dorm was that Karr might be there. She really hoped that he didn't drive off campus.

After taking a quick shower, drying most of her hair and donning the driest, most rain-proof clothing she had, Lizzie consulted her mental map of the university. Karr had discovered that trees offer shade from the rain, so maybe he was hiding in the woods somewhere. That was where she would look next.

"But where will we go once I find him?" she asked herself.

She was slightly surprised she had thought of that question. Where _would _they go? If Karr was still on campus-and hopefully he was-he might be too frightened of the rain to go anywhere. And anyway, he might not let her into his cabin. So if she found him, she would probably have to stay with him until the rain stopped.

Lizzie threw a couple granola bars and water into a backpack when she thought of that. Then she took another look at the clock. She could skip the rest of her classes that day, and she didn't need to go to the dogs again until tomorrow. She didn't have any other responsibilities. That meant that she could devote the rest of the day to finding Karr and figuring out how to help him.

With a nod, Lizzie packed a few more things into the backpack-a blanket, a flashlight, and anything else she thought she might need.

"Don't want to forget my cell phone," she muttered to herself.

But just as she grabbed the device, it rang.

"Hello?" Lizzie asked, answering without bothering to look at the caller ID. Inwardly she yelled at herself. She didn't have time to answer the phone! What was she thinking?

"Elizabeth?"

"Oh, hi Mrs. Mahogany," Lizzy said.

Uh oh. Mrs. Mahogany was probably going to ask her if she could watch her house.

"Can you watch my house for the next few weeks? I'm leaving on a trip but I want to make sure it looks like someone's home."

"Um," Lizzie said. She hated having to turn Mrs. Mahogany down. She was such a nice old lady, although her frequent travels came with little warning.

"You don't need to come by tonight, dear," Mrs. Mahogany continued, "But you can come by sporadically to turn the lights on and off. You still have the keys, right?"

"Yes," Lizzie said.

"Feel free to use the tv, the fridge, yadda yadda."

"Actually, Mrs. Mahogany," Lizzie began, but she wasn't heard.

"Thank you so much, dear! You don't know what a life-saver you are. Oh! And before I forget, feel free to spend the night if you want. It's kinda nice to have a quiet place to study sometimes, you know? I'll see you when I get back. Thanks again!"

"Wait, Mrs. Ma-"

But Mrs. Mahogany hung up before she could finish.

"Oh." Lizzie said, speaking to herself now, "Well, I guess I can do it. Just not tonight."

She glanced at her phone as she went to put it in her pocket.

"Wait. Thirty missed calls?" She asked, seeing the number on her phone's screen. Did Kitt call her back? Quickly, she pulled up the list of missed calls. Unfortunately, she discovered that they were all from the same number. It was a number she didn't recognize, but it had the same area code as her school.

"I'd better not call whoever this is back," she said, throwing her phone in her pocket, "I've taken too much time; I'm out of time. I'll listen to the voicemails later."

She hoped it wasn't one of her professors trying to reach her, but she would deal with that later. Right now she needed to find Karr. Quickly she grabbed the backpack she had prepared. Locking her dorm room door behind her, Lizzie left the building as fast as possible and headed for the woods.


	6. Phone Calls

**Whew! Sorry for the wait. Thank you again for your reviews!  
><strong>

CHAPTER SIX

The rain wouldn't stop. The steady downpour beat on the trees overhead, and the trees in turn dropped it down to beat against her umbrella. She had walked over almost every inch of those woods, at least every inch that could fit a car, and Lizzie was seriously wondering if Karr had driven out of town.

She had already missed all her classes by now. That, and her feet ached.

"Alright," she said out loud, stopping for just a second, leaning against a wet tree, "Should I keep going?"

It wasn't a question of stopping the search. She wasn't going to stop until she made _sure _that Karr wasn't on campus. The question was whether she should keep going forward, or turn around and try searching in a different direction.

It took about half a minute for her to decide. She walked forward, eyes vigilant, and that was when she _finally_ spotted him, shivering underneath a tree.

"Karr!" She said, breaking into a run, "Karr, it's me!"

Karr did nothing but shiver, his scanner running back and forth. Water droplets which the tree above him missed were continuously dropping onto his frame and trickling down to the ground.

"Oh Karr," Lizzie said, rubbing her umbrella-free hand on his hood as she reached him, "It's alright."

That seemed to be the moment that he realized she was there. He honked plaintively at her, and his headlights winked at her weakly.

"It's alright, it's alright," Lizzie repeated, "I'm going to get you somewhere warm and dry. Everything is fine, Karr. I know you don't remember it, but this stuff is water. It can't hurt you; you're much, much stronger than water."

Karr didn't stop shivering, but his scanner began to fluctuate a little more normally now.

"You've been out here for a while," Lizzie said.

How could he stand being out in the rain so long when it was clear he didn't like it? They needed to get out of here. Lizzie folded her umbrella and stuck it in an outside pocket of her backpack. It was an action very much like rolling up her sleeves-she had work to do, and she was going to do it.

"Alright," she began, repositioning her backpack on her back, "I came up with a plan while I was searching for you. Mrs. Mahogany asked me today if I could watch her house. Well, her house has a garage in it. And that will keep you covered from this rain. I'm sure she won't mind if we use it. So if you're ready to leave here, we should get going. We'll have to go through some of the rain to get there, but if we're quick, maybe we won't notice it. Are you ready?"

She placed both hands on Karr's hood and gently pulled, indicating that the direction she wanted him to go was out from under the tree.

In response Karr violently reversed, hitting the tree in the process. Unfortunately, this caused some water droplets to fall from the tree onto his frame. He revved his engine dangerously, and to Lizzie's delight it sounded like his old snarl.

"Come on," she said, pulling at his hood again, "I promise you'll be fine."

Karr tried to back up some more, but since he was already up against the tree there wasn't anywhere he could go. He settled on revving instead, but it looked strange since he was still shivering.

"No," Lizzie was beginning to get impatient, "I am getting you out of here, so come with me!"

She pulled again, and Karr revved again. Lizzie took a deep breath, and tried once more. This time Karr honked at her.

"Stop it!" Lizzie said, raising her voice, "Just trust me, alright?"

Karr stopped shivering. She pulled at his hood once more, and this time he slowly moved towards her.

"That's it," Lizzie spoke, delighted, "Now, a little further..."

Karr moved a little further.

"Good! Now, you're going to feel the rain, but I promise you'll be fine..."

Lizzie led him out of the limited umbrella the tree had created. Rain pounded on his hood at full-force, and Karr seemed to shiver even harder, but to his credit he kept going forward.

"That's it, keep going!" Lizzie encouraged. The rain was hitting her just as hard as it was hitting Karr, but she pretended not to notice it.

As soon as Karr was fully out in the rain, she stopped pulling him and turned around so that she could walked forward instead of backwards. She kept one hand touching his hood so that he would know she wasn't going to leave him.

"Now, I know this seems bad," Lizzie said, "But it can't rain forever." She needed to keep talking to him to keep him calm. It didn't matter what she talked _about._ "I remember this one week it was raining, when I was little, and I really wanted to play outside..."

* * *

><p>Through trial and error they found a way to weave through the forest, Lizzie talking the whole way. She was pretty good at judging whether Karr could fit through certain spaces between clumps of trees, and as long as they made sure to head in a straight direction Lizzie knew they would eventually hit a road. Finally they exited the woods. At this point Lizzie wasn't too worried about people spotting her with Karr. It didn't seem to matter anymore; the roads were mostly deserted at this time of day near the residential area. Plus it was raining, and most people on the road were concerned about getting to their destination. So as soon as Lizzie realized where she was and got her bearings, she led Karr to Mrs. Mahogany's house and up Mrs. Mahogany's driveway, her right hand on his hood the whole time.<p>

"Wait right here," she commanded. She needed to let go of him while she opened the garage. It didn't take too long to unlock the front door, go through the house and open the garage, but she didn't like leaving Karr alone outside. Thankfully he stayed right where he was, shivering as the rain fell on him. As soon as the door was fully open, she led Karr inside. That part didn't take much coaxing.

"This is nice and cozy," Lizzie remarked as the garage door closed, "I'm going to leave you here for a few minutes and turn some lights on and off in the house, like Mrs. Mahogany does. But I'll be back. I think I'll spend the night here in the garage."

She left her backpack by the closed garage door and entered the house, leaving the inside door to the house open. Before she went through the house she stopped by the bathroom and left her wet jacket there, hanging on the shower rod. Her duties in the house didn't take too long.

"Right," she said as she entered the garage again, turning on the light as she did so, "All settled for now."

Karr had found enough space to maneuver, because he was now diagonally parked and currently facing the door that leads from the garage into the house. He had apparently been flashing his headlights; as she entered she saw one quick flash before he stopped. That made her curious. Just who was he flashing to when she was not in the room?

"Make sure your engine is off while we're in the garage," Lizzie said, deciding to ignore her curiosity and get back down to business, "Wouldn't want carbon monoxide poisoning. Then again, Mom _did _modify your engine. But I'm not going to take any chances; I'll keep this door open just in case. That'll let the a/c in here, anyway."

She bent down to her backpack and began sifting through it.

"You know, if I had known earlier I would be sleeping on the ground, I would have brought a pillow," Lizzie said, pulling her blanket out of her backpack, "Hey, look! I packed food! Oh wait. This was for lunch. How did I miss lunch?"

She decided to ration the lunch to be both her dinner and the next day's breakfast. As she was arranging what little food she had, out of the corner of her eye she noticed Karr slowly driving towards her.

"What's up?" she asked him, getting up to meet him half-way, "You've stopped shaking. That's good." She touched his hood as if checking for a fever.

"Hm," Lizzie continued, "Well, it's still really early to go to sleep, but you've been out in that rain for a while. You're probably tired, right?"

She sat down by his hood and made herself comfortable against his bumper, like she had done the night before. She heard the sound of Karr's engine cut off completely, and a quick look at his scanner showed her he was already in recharge.

"That was fast," she whispered. "Now. What am _I _going to do until bedtime? Shoulda brought some homework with me."

Suddenly the familiar ring of her cell phone sounded loudly through the garage, startling her. She glanced at Karr to see if it woke him up, but he remained silent. Maybe he was oblivious to everything as long as she was touching him. So Lizzie decided to pull out her cell phone and answer it.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Lizzie!"

"Brit! What's up?"

"You mean you don't know? Where are you?"

"Um," Lizzie looked around at the garage, and chose to answer the first question first. "Know what?"

"Security's been looking for you."

"They have?" Oh. Was that the unfamiliar number that had been calling her?

"Some car damaged the campus, and they say it's yours. They caught it all on camera. Lizzie, please tell me you didn't do it!"

"Of course not!" Lizzie said, "What happened?"

In other words, _what on earth_ had Karr done?

"Well, they caught this car on camera crashing into a tree and wrecking one of the benches at that park near the Smith house..."

Uh oh. A camera had seen them at the park earlier. But did it see Karr driving away by himself? If so, this could be a huge problem.

"...But what everyone's talking about is the academic building."

That caught Lizzie's attention.

"What? What happened there?" she asked.

"Someone drove a car right through the main lecture hall, and they think it was your car that did it."

"WHAT?" Lizzie practically shouted.

"Exactly!" Brittany said, "They're looking for you on charges of destruction of private property."

"But I didn't do anything!" Lizzie said, "Brit, what am I going to do?"

"It's easy. You didn't do it, someone just stole your car. All you have to do is go down to the police station and let them know that."

But that would be a lie. Lizzie _knew_ where Karr was. Also, if security had caught on camera that no one was driving the car, they might ask her about that. And what if she had to file a stolen car report? If she did that, anyone who knew his make, model and license plate would know that he was here on campus with her. And he wouldn't be able to recognize his old enemies as threats in his current state of amnesia.

On the one hand, Kitt might learn exactly where Karr was once and for all. But on the other hand, Lizzie suspected that someone had given Karr his amnesia. Something had to have happened to him on that mission of his. So someone might be looking for him, someone she didn't want to find him.

She couldn't let Karr get in danger like that. Quickly, she formulated a plan.

"Lizzie? Hello?" Brittany was speaking to her.

"Alright. I know what I need to do," Lizzy said, turning her attention back to the phone.

"Good," said Brit, "What time will you be back? I can go with you to the police."

"Thanks, but I'd like to deal with this myself," Lizzie said, "Thanks for the call!"

She hung up the phone before her roommate could say anything.

"Karr, you trouble-maker," she said, turning her head to see the dark place where the scanner normally paced, "See what you've got me into!"

The sound of her phone ringing again startled her.

"Probably Brittany again," Lizzie decided, but changed her mind once she saw the caller ID.

Oh. It was that number again. The one that had called her thirty times, and had her school area code. It was probably security, and they were calling her because she was in trouble. Would she be in even more trouble if she didn't answer, or could she wait until tomorrow to call them back?

Wondering if she made the right decision, Lizzie answered the phone and raised it to her ear.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Elizabeth Knight."

She heard Karr's scanner start up behind her as he woke up, and he immediately began shivering.

"Yes?" She asked, turning her attention to Karr. Why had this man's voice woken up Karr?

"Finally. We've been trying to get ahold of you for some time."

Karr started flashing his headlights at her. It was a new pattern, but even if she understood him he was going too fast for her to comprehend the message.

The voice spoke again.

"You might want to watch your step."

"What? Who is this?" Lizzie asked.

"Call me a concerned citizen, if you will." The man's voice said nonchalantly, "Your reckless driving today is bringing you attention. And you can't afford that. FLAG can't afford that."

"Huh?" Lizzie asked, trying to appear ignorant. But on the inside she was worried. Who was this, and how did he know she was involved with FLAG?

Karr, if anything, seemed to speed up his headlight flashes.

"You're young," the voice continued, "But you're also one of FLAG's Drivers. So we want to warn you."

"What? What are you talking about?" Lizzie asked.

"Lay low, and stay out of the way. And whatever you do, don't go searching for him."

Whoever-it-was then hung up the phone.

"Just what," Lizzie said, pocketing her own phone, "Was _that _all about?"

She turned her attention back to Karr. As soon as her phone was hidden he stopped sending her his headlight messages, and just sat there shivering.

"Karr, it's okay," Lizzie said, running her left hand over his hood to help calm him down. It seemed she was constantly repeating that to him these past few hours.

Why was he freaking out so much over that phone call? Then it hit her. Karr had _recognized _whoever had been on the phone with her. And whoever it was, it was someone he was uncomfortable with.

With a feeling of foreboding, Lizzie took the cell phone out of her pocket and removed its battery, hoping that it's signal couldn't be traced to that garage.

"Everything is going to be fine, Karr," she said, trying to calm him down enough for him to recharge again.

She hoped she was telling him the truth.


	7. Retrieval

**Thank you for the reviews!  
><strong>

CHAPTER SEVEN

"Is it contained?" Bonnie asked, craning her head around the corner to peer into the room.

"No," Kitt responded, "I am using all available systems to deter it, but it is progressing steadily. Any word from Karr?"

"None," Bonnie scowled, "But we're working on it. How are your energy levels?"

"As long as I keep up my concentration, I should be fine, Bonnie." Kitt sounded a little tired, if that was possible. "I believe Michael is coming to join us."

Bonnie heard the footsteps from outside, and Michael rushed into the room panting for breath.

"We've*pant*got a problem," he said, leaning against the nearby wall to rest. His cell phone was solidly in his right hand.

"And I believe I've got a bigger one," Devon said, entering the room through the other door, "There's been activity."

"What." Bonnie asked, more a statement than a question.

"Devon, I'm sorry," Kitt said, "I'm afraid I can't detect-"

"Of course you can't," Bonnie interrupted, "Why do you think they're monitoring things upstairs? We all know you're busy."

"Bonnie is right," Devon agreed, "However, it seems as if we might have to transfer your current duties to the team upstairs. I'm afraid we need you, Kitt. You too, Michael."

"You're right," Michael said, "Devon, I just got a phone call-"

"Michael, you don't understand," Devon said, "The activity we spotted-well, it was Them. And I'm afraid they're heading towards Elizabeth's school."

"They can't be," Bonnie said.

"Devon, she'll be fine." Kitt said, "I'm sure it's only a coincidence. I was very adamant about cutting off all ties with her. There is no possible way they could be heading there for _her_. Besides, I am currently needed here."

"Can we take that risk?" Michael asked, "I just got a phone call-"

"What if she thought something was wrong?" Bonnie asked, interrupting her husband, "How can she contact us? She's very observant. What if they're after her, and she notices?"

"Impossible." Kitt said.

"Kitt," Michael asked, "Has she tried contacting you today?"

"Lizzie _was _trying to call me earlier," Kitt mentioned, "She managed to send an SOS signal based solely on the timing of her calls. But Michael, I am certain she is only worried about Karr."

"Maybe we should tell her," Bonnie said.

"No," Kitt argued, "Not unless we were to tell her face to face. It is too risky over the phone."

"You know," Michael said, "Don't you think that if Lizzie really, _really _needed to contact us, she'd find a way to get our attention?"

Kitt's scanner picked up. He recognized something in that tone of voice.

"Michael," he asked, "What was that about a phone call you received?"

Michael waved his cell phone. "Lizzie's school," he said, "She's missing."

"What?!" Devon and Bonnie asked.

"Why didn't you say so before?" Kitt asked, "Devon, prepare to switch the project to the team upstairs. I need to leave with Michael right away!"

"Hang on a minute," Michael said, holding out on hand to stop him, "Listen. She's not kidnapped. I think. BUT-"

The three other occupants seemed to be hanging on that one word.

"-The school has informed me that if she doesn't show up soon," Michael continued, "They are going to issue a search warrant for her arrest."

"A _what_?" Kitt asked.

"What on _Earth _did she do?" Bonnie asked, her voice raising to threatening levels.

"Indeed!" Devon added.

"Apparently, she destroyed public _and _private property," Michael said, "Whatever she wants to tell us, it must be pretty urgent. Now Kitt, I think we need to call her and find out what's going on."

"Right away Michael," Kitt said, "Can you use your phone? I'm a little busy at the moment."

"Right," Michael whipped his phone up and began pressing it. He put it to his ear.

The room was silent.

"Nothing," Michael said, hanging up, "It goes straight into her voicemail."

"Michael," Bonnie said, "Something is definitely wrong."

"I agree," Devon said, turning to look at Michael and Kitt, "You two had better leave as soon as possible. Bonnie, start preparing the transfer of Kitt's program to the team upstairs."

"Thank you, Devon." Kitt said.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe this," Lizzie said, "I practically sit up all night, for the <em>second night in a row, <em>and after I _finally _fall asleep, you _apparently _wake up to do this. As if it was a complete accident."

Karr sat there smugly.

"I _know _you did this on purpose," Lizzie finished, "Now let go of me!"

But Karr was unmoving. Oh, Lizzie knew he was awake. He wasn't even _trying _to hide his scanner. Sometime in the night, he had rolled over her to pin her to the ground.

By her hair.

His wheel had driven over her hair.

It wasn't very comfortable. Her hair came down a little below her shoulders, so it wasn't cropped too short, but it wasn't too long either. Not long enough for this, anyway.

"Karr," Lizzie said, all patience starting to leave her, "_Get off!_"

Karr only flashed his favorite headlight sequence at her.

"I have _no idea _what that means," Lizzie said, "But I need to get up off the cement floor now."

Karr didn't move, so Lizzie tried to. She yanked her head up as far as it could go.

"OW! Ow, owowow," she said, dropping it back to the ground. "Karr, you're hurting me! Let go!"

Karr only settled down on his shocks, apparently getting comfortable right where he was.

"Karr, no!" Lizzie said, "What's this about, anyway? I mean, if you're afraid of me leaving, that was _you_ who did that yesterday, remember?"

Of course, Karr couldn't understand her. But couldn't he tell that she was really annoyed right now?

"Karr, I _need _to get up," Lizzie said, "It's morning."

Nothing. Lizzie was seriously losing patience.

"UGH! Karr, _let me go!_" She was practically shouting now. She waved her arms rapidly, hoping to somehow inflict damage or scare him enough to let her go.

Suddenly her right arm connected with something and scraped it, and it _hurt_. Lizzie gave an involuntary scream, and curled in on herself as much as she could go without moving her head. She pulled her arm into her line of vision-

She was bleeding. It was just a scrape, but it was a _long _scrape, and it was unexpected.

"Oh no," she whimpered.

Apparently realizing that Lizzie was genuinely hurt, Karr drove off her and she quickly sat up. She ran to her backpack. Had she packed a first aid kit somewhere in there? No? What was she thinking! Wait. The house. _That _probably had what she needed!

She raced inside. It wasn't until she had washed, disinfected and then placed six three bandaids over the long cut that she started to calm down.

"Okay, that's taken care of," Lizzie said as she walked back into the garage, "Sorry for screaming, Karr. It's not even that deep."

Karr came up to her and pushed against her with his hood, flashing his favorite headlight sequence.

Was he telling her he was sorry?

"It's alright," Lizzie said, patting his hood, "Well, at least now I'm up."

She walked over to her backpack to get some breakfast, but she had a follower. And he was currently pressing up against her back.

"Karr," she said, pushing his hood away one-handed, "I'm fine!"

Karr only shivered and came in closer to her.

Lizzie sighed. "Fine," she said, deciding to ignore him for now, "Now. Breakfast. Then we'll figure out what to do next."

* * *

><p>"Devon. Are you certain the team can handle-"<p>

"Not for long Kitt, but it will be enough, I hope." Devon responded, "How are you on time?"

"Getting there," Michael responded, "Kitt's passing all the traffic, but it's still going to be a while."

"Don't worry, Devon. As soon as we have Lizzie we're heading back to the Foundation." Kitt said.

"Good. Try not to take any longer than you need to."

"Roger," Michael responded.

"I really wish we didn't get her involved in this," Kitt said as Devon hung up.

"Me too pal," Michael said. His stomach growled.

"Michael-"

"Not now, Kitt. We need to get to my daughter first. I can grab something to eat on the way back."

"Right, Michael."

* * *

><p>"Oh. This could be a problem," Lizzie said, "Karr. I'm not going forever. <em>I'm coming back<em>."

Karr stayed right where he was, pinning her to the garage wall behind her.

"Listen," Lizzie said, "I need to leave to get some things straightened out. I need to go talk to Security about the damage _you _caused, before someone comes looking for me. And you can't come because-well, I need you to stay here. I mean, you heard the weird phone call I got last night. I think someone else is after you. _'Don't go searching for him,'_ the guy said. He didn't know that you're with me, and I can't let whoever it is find out where you are."

Karr didn't move.

"Karr. Please let me go," Lizzie said, "I promise I'll be back."

But Karr was unfazed.

Lizzie groaned. "Listen," she said, perfectly willing to start her argument all over again-But then the doorbell rang, interrupting her thoughts.

Lizzie froze. Who would be knocking on Mrs. Mahogany's door? One of the neighbors?

She listened, pressing her ear against the wall to try to hear what was going on outside. There was another ring of the doorbell, and then the sound of pounding-"Lizzie!" A familiar voice called out, "I know you're in there!"

"Oh no, it's Brit!" Lizzie said, "How'd she find me? What should I do?"

Once more she pushed against Karr, and he actually moved back. Lizzie left the garage immediately and raced through the house before opening up the front door for her roommate.

"Elizabeth." Brittany greeted her, her face unusually stoic, "Do you know how much _trouble _you're in?"


	8. Problems

**Hello again! Here's the next chapter! Sorry for the delay. Been real busy lately! **

**A/N: So I finally noticed that Lizzie has been spelling her name differently from the way it was spelled in the first two stories _and _the short story (as Lizzy)! So the unannounced (in this story, anyway) reason for this change is that she wanted to spell her nickname a little differently when she went to college, to feel a little more mature. College is the place to do that, ya know. Also, in case anyone was wondering, the other stories established that Lizzie had an earpiece. She doesn't have one in this story, since she is _supposed_ to be taking a break from missions to study.**

CHAPTER EIGHT

"Britt! Hi! Um, how'd you find me?" Lizzie asked, trying to hide behind the front door.

"Where _else _would you spend the night?" Brittany asked, taking the liberty of stepping inside, "It was either here or with the Smith's dogs."

"Oh," Lizzie said.

"Alright, let's talk," Brittany said, closing the front door behind her, "You told me that you weren't the one who damaged the lecture hall."

"I wasn't," Lizzie defended herself.

"Fine," said Brittany, looking visibly relieved, "Next question. Why haven't you gone to the police already and straightened things out?"

"I just woke up!" Lizzie said.

"That's no excuse!" Brittany countered, "You've _missed _all your classes yesterday, Security has been trying to reach you all night, and everyone seems to think that since I'm your roommate I _have _to know where you are!"

"Did you tell anyone?" Lizzie asked, eyes automatically turning to the window.

"Not yet," Britt said, "I wasn't sure where you were. Until now. Look," she said, "I believe you, but Campus Security doesn't know you like I do. And they've told me that if you don't come forward soon, they're going to go to the police and have them issue a warrant for your arrest. There's a rumor that the police are already _looking _for you. Worse, the school will probably expel you."

"I know," Lizzie said.

"Then let's do this right now," Britt said, grabbing her arm.

Lizzie instantly thought of Karr, alone in the garage.

"Wait!" She said, yanking her arm back, "Not yet!"

"Lizzie?" Brittany asked.

"I-I can't," Lizzie said, "There's something I have to do first."

"Like what?"

"Look, you're going to have to trust me," Lizzie said, "I'll meet you at the police station in...in an hour, alright?"

Brittany stared at her for a second, then slowly nodded.

"Alright," she said, "But if you chicken out again-"

"I'm not chickening out," Lizzie said, "I'll be there."

"Right," Brittany said. She walked over to the front door and opened it. "I just hope you know what you're doing."

Britt exited the building, closing the door quietly behind her.

Lizzie let out a breath she had been holding.

"Now," she said to herself, heading back to the garage, "It's broad daylight, and the roads are crowded. All I need to do is get Karr from the garage to the woods. I think I know how to get to the station from there."

She bit her lip. The road outside Mrs. Mahogany's house was not going to be as empty as it was in the rain the day before. Getting Karr into the woods was going to be the tricky part...

Ten minutes later proved it to be even trickier than she thought.

The garage door was wide open, and the day promised to be infinitely clear and bright outside, but Karr would have none of it. His engine _whined, _and his breaks were firmly locked. He wasn't going anywhere.

"Come on, get _going_!" Lizzie said, pushing Karr from behind.

"Karr," Lizzie said, walking around to his hood, "Listen. We're _going _to the police station. I am not leaving you behind here, so you're coming with me. I told Brittany I'd be there in an hour. Do you want to make me out to be a liar?"

There was no response. Why was she still expecting a response?

"Look, I'm not leaving you again," Lizzie said, "Not after what happened yesterday. Although technically, you ditched me_. Now, _will you just come _on_?"

Maybe instead of pushing, she could drive him there. In fact, that would be a whole lot better than sneaking him around in the woods. She walked over to his front door and tried the handle.

But just like the last time she tried, it wouldn't open.

"What's wrong?" Lizzie asked, "It's not raining anymore. And I'm not asking you to drive out in plain sight. We're just going to hide you in the woods-"

She paused.

"Oh." She said, "You must have been pretty scared in those woods yesterday, huh?"

Karr shivered. Did he really know what she was saying? Or had he just put two and two together and realized that was where she was going to ask him to hide?

"Fine," Lizzie said, placing her hand on his frame. The shivering died instantly, "We won't hide you in the woods. I'll just have to take you to the police station with me, and you can stay in the parking lot."

She groaned.

"Of course," she said, "I'm going to have to convince the police that I didn't use you to destroy the lecture hall. Oh my gosh, what am I doing? I'm bringing you right to the police station!"

She sighed, and began pulling at her own hair as if doing so would give her an idea of some kind.

"What am I going to _do_?" She asked.

Karr backed up slightly, and then he rolled forward slowly, ever so slowly, until the tip of his hood was rubbing up against Lizzie's legs.

As if he thought _she_ was the one who needed comforting now.

* * *

><p>"How much farther, Kitt?"<p>

"We're nearly there, Michael. We should see the campus any minute now."

"Good," Michael said, relaxing into his seat, "How long until we're back at FLAG?"

"Please don't ask me that, Michael." Kitt pleaded.

"They're not doing too good back home, are they?" Michael asked.

Kitt was silent.

"That bad, huh?" Michael asked.

"Oh no." Kitt spoke up again, "Don't look now, but we have company."

"What is it, buddy?" Michael sat up straight and gripped the wheel tightly. He looked into the rear-view mirror.

Red and white strobe lights were right behind them.

"The police," he groaned, "Kitt, were you speeding?"

"...Maybe just a little."

"Kitt!"

"Pulling over, Michael." Kitt said, pulling to the side of the road, "Try to make this quick. We still need to get to Elizabeth before_ They_ do."

"If you hadn't been speeding-" Michael said, opening the glove compartment to find Kitt's vehicle registration.

He decided he didn't need to finish that sentence. He grabbed what he needed and closed the compartment, placing both his hands back on the wheel.

There was a knock on the window, and Kitt rolled it down. The policeman standing on the other side didn't seem to notice that Michael couldn't have touched the window-both his hands were still on the steering wheel.

"Do you know why I pulled you over?" He asked.

Michael sighed.

"Yes Officer," he said, "And I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have been going that fast-"

"Did you know that this is a 30 mile-per-hour zone?" The officer said.

"I-no. I thought it was 45," Michael answered truthfully. He really hadn't been paying attention while Kitt was driving.

"Hm," said the officer, "Can I see your license and registration?"

Michael handed the police officer the items in his hands.

"Huh," said the officer, "Knight. Any relation to Elizabeth Knight?"

"She's my daughter," Michael said.

"Do you know that she's currently in trouble for damaging public and private property?"

Michael sighed. "The school called last night," he said, "That's why I'm going to find her. We don't exactly live next door to the campus. Been driving all night."

"But you've seen her already."

"Not yet," Michael said, "But when I do, you can be sure I'll get the whole thing straightened out, Officer."

"But you _have _seen her," said the Officer, raising an eyebrow, "You're driving her car."

"What?" Michael asked.

"Black trans-am, same make and model," said the Officer, looking him right in the eye. Michael looked him right back. "The school's Campus Security gave us the details from her vehicle registration sheet. We've been keeping an eye out for it."

"Wait, _what_?" Michael asked, "Lizzie registered Karr on campus?"

"Yup," said the Officer, "So how come you're the one driving?"

"It's a different car," Michael said, "Different license plate. This is a favorite model in our family."

"Oh. I see," said the driver, looking at the information on the vehicle registration that he still held in his hand, "Sorry for the confusion. Let us know when you find your daughter, alright?"

Michael nodded. "Yeah," he said.

"Listen," said the Officer, "the kid's not in trouble with us yet. We're not exactly certain she was the one who caused all the damage. But it looks suspicious that she hasn't appeared to give us an alibi."

"I understand," said Michael.

The police officer handed him back his driver's license and registration.

"I'm going to let you off with a warning this time," he said, "_Just this once._ Next time, don't do 50 when the speed limit is 30."

"Right," Michael said, "Thanks a lot, Officer."

The police officer left, and Kitt rolled up the window.

"You were going _fifty_?" Michael lashed out.

"Oh hush up. We _both_ wanted to get here quickly." Kitt said, pulling away from the curb.

"You're pretty lucky he didn't give you a ticket," Michael said, "Bonnie would have-"

"She would have thought that _you _were the one driving," Kitt interrupted, sounding a little smug, "And I would merely allow her to continue thinking that way."

"But tha-alright, fine." Michael sighed, "But Kitt, no more speeding."

"I'm not planning to, Michael. That cost us more time than I accounted for."

"So. How much longer until we're on campus?"

"We're already here, Michael. Five more minutes to Lizzie's dormitory."

"Good," Michael said, squeezing the steering wheel tightly-even though he wasn't the one driving. "But you know what, Kitt?"

"What is it, Michael?"

"I was just thinking about how mad Karr will be, once he finds out."

"About?"

"About how Lizzie registered him on campus," Michael chuckled, "Seriously, what was she _thinking_?"

"I hope he doesn't take it too badly," Kitt said, "Especially after that time-Michael, look off to the left."

"Whoa," Michael said. Indeed, that was the perfect word for it.

Off to the left was a large, distinguished looking building. At least, it once was distinguished looking. Currently, it looked a little shabby. A large plastic tarp hung heavily over a hole within the building's wall, surrounding by two dozen people and some indeterminate machines, all apparently attempting to patch up the wound.

"What happened there?" Michael asked, "Which building is that?"

"The academic building," Kitt said as they drove past, "The damage goes through the main lecture hall."

As one side of the building disappeared and the other became visible, Michael gave out a low whistle. The other side had an identical-looking tarp over an identical-looking hole.

"Must have been a drunk driver." Michael hypothesized.

"A _really _drunk driver." Kitt added.

**To Be Continued...**


End file.
